Through most of its history Cadillac never offered a station wagon, but there were some notable experiments at GM, including this 1971 proposal based on the Eldorado.

It’s true. For decades, the Cadillac division at General Motors didn’t offer a station wagon, but the idea did come up from time to time. In the freewheeling GM styling studios where few ideas were completely out of bounds, wagon variants were proposed for a number of non-traditional platforms: Camaro, Firebird, Oldsmobile Toronado. And yes, even Cadillac, as with this 1971 Eldorado proposal. Its sporting two-door style calls to mind the traditional English shooting brake.

Credit for the smooth wagon proposal goes to chief designer of the Cadillac advanced studio, Wayne Kady, who was also responsible for the production 1971 Eldorado coupe and convertible.  Of all the cars in his 38-year career, he’s called that one his favorite. Few would ever guess it as the exterior is so well integrated, but his Eldorado production design was required to share a number of components with GM’s B-body package, including the cowl and windshield. Among the imaginative touches on Kady’s wagon variant is the creased tailgate and rear glass, an echo of the razor-styled 1967 Eldorado.

According to Cars That Never Were by the auto editors of Consumer Guide (Publications International, LTD, 1994), a single full-sized clay model was constructed, although the original pale gold wrap was later redone in green. While the studio model had no interior, a separate full-scale cabin buck was created under the direction of Ed Donaldson with fold-down seats and a roll-out rear cargo compartment to accept fitted luggage. A telephone, computer, television, and mini-fridge were also included, creating a gentleman’s luxury express.

Evidently, no momentum for a production Eldorado wagon ever materialized, as the project never went any further. That’s unfortunate, we think. We’re not saying it would have been a big seller at the time, but we bet it would be a desirable collectible today. Several aftermarket firms, including Coachman and Wisco (Wisco shown below) produced wagon conversions of the ’71-’78 Eldorado, but these were modified coupes with opera windows. And for us, the conversions lack the remarkable grace of Wayne Kady’s original.